Holy Crap, Hand build!!!

[Super Turbo Deluxe Custom]

I was more surprised than impressed with the finished product after seeing him make it.  I scratched my head a lot thinking, thats not how you're supposed to do that.  Particularly his bookmatching skills.  By the time he squared the edges up, so much had been removed, it looked like like two different pieces of wood.  His metal studs on a hand router?  His stubborn insistence on the hand saw?

I was amazed with the finished product, but cringed at it being built.  I don't think it sounded particularly great, but I attribute that more to YouTube.  I can't tell what anything sounds like.

It was still nicer than a '54 Strat.

 

[SalsaNChips]

I watched all three parts. Fascinating. Complete, utter craftsmanship and mastery of tools. I would love to be able to do that, build exactly what I imagine, when it strikes me to do so and I have time to spend with it. I got a little of that building (more like "assembling") my Tele and some other non-guitar projects I have worked on (making simple furniture). You meditate when working on stuff like that; it is a good thing.

Loved the abalone inlays and design. Winding your own pickups is one thing but he made his own bobbins and knobs. The graphite was a nice touch.

Makes me want to go play my Warmoth Tele that I spent, oh 30 hours or so putting together and setting up. And think about making room in my garage for a router and a planer.

 

[swarfrat]

I'm not sure I'd say craftsmanship so much as the most tenacious stubborn and determined diyer ever. Not that what he did wasn't amazing, but planing with a router in a homemade jig? In that regard it kind of made me think 'I made this guitar using only the materials I could scrounge around the prison'. I realize he is in NZ, so it might not be that much of a stretch for availability, but still...

 

[Cagey]

Hehe! Yeah, I can see that. Stubborn tenacity.

A Howell is never wrong! Break off a piece, and make it fit!​

 

[DangerousR6]

Hehe! Yeah, I can see that. Stubborn tenacity.

A Howell is never wrong! Break off a piece, and make it fit!​

LOL...So true..

BTW, my favorite show of all time was Gilligan's Island. Even as big a Batman fan that I am, GI is still the shyt... :toothy12:

 

[Cagey]

I agree. For as implausible as it was, it was a lotta fun.

 

[Cagey]

Incidentally, while I have no idea what episode that shot is from, I always remember that line because I think I laughed for 3 days after I heard it. Gilligan had found a rock that looked like it was piece of a map, and they subsequently found a bunch of them and decided it was a puzzle of a map to get off the island. Silly, I know, but who cares?

Anyway, they're all standing around trying to figure out how the pieces go together (there were only about a dozen pieces, so again, implausible) when Thurston suggests the placement of one of the pieces. It doesn't fit (naturally), so he says "Nonsense! A Howell is never wrong! Break off a piece and make it fit!" It was such a surprise I laughed my ass off, and I've never forgotten it.

I still miss my ass.

 

[bagman67]

 

[DangerousR6]

Confucius say: "Man who fly upside down have nasty crack up"... :laughing11:

 

[Cagey]

This is one educational forum.

 

[Pelagaard]

Saw this in the queue while watching video 2.  *Warning* What happens at approx. 9:30 might make you angry/cringe.

 

[Super Turbo Deluxe Custom]

Saw this in the queue while watching video 2.  *Warning* What happens at approx. 9:30 might make you angry/cringe.

That wasn't so bad.  But, if you can see the foil shielding on the inside of the cavity cover by looking through the F-hole, makes you wonder if he's one of the guys that says shielding is pointless.

 

[DangerousR6]

Saw this in the queue while watching video 2.  *Warning* What happens at approx. 9:30 might make you angry/cringe.

What an asshat...

 

[Orpheo]

Maybe my phone is too small but please explain what was so bad about that guitar?

 

[Pelagaard]

Maybe my phone is too small but please explain what was so bad about that guitar?

Putting color over the spalt.

 

[mayfly]

didn't think it was that bad.

 

[AutoBat]

Looks better in red.

 

[dmraco]

I caught flack for busrting my spalt...but I would have never let it go completely covered.

 

[rapfohl09]

Jaw-droppingly awesome. I really want to build a les paul sometime. I feel kind of like they are the pinnacle of do-it-yourself building. Well if you do it with all the bells and whistles anyway.

As for the sound, I wasn't impressed with what was in the third build video, but the "Let's Play" video, the sound was much better. Plus there are a lot of things that can happen to the sound over a camera and then being put on youtube.

Seriously beautiful guitar.

 

[stubhead]

Hey, I have the exact same kind of scissors as this guy! Orange-handled Fiskars.... he really gets some work out of that router, huh. I'm glad he likes what he's doing, and I approve of the hand vs. machine ratio, but he's working very hard to end up with a kind of... ordinary guitar. (?) I'd personally rather have a Warmoth and 2,000 hours of practicing instead, but the world does need all kinds.